A greedy gobbling galaxy has been caught in the act - noshing on its neighbors and leaving crumbs of evidence about its dietary past.
Galaxies grow by churning loose gas from their surroundings into new stars, or by swallowing neighboring galaxies whole. However, they normally leave very few traces of their cannibalistic habits.
A study published in the Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society (MNRAS) not only reveals a spiral galaxy devouring a nearby compact dwarf galaxy, but shows evidence of its past galactic snacks in unprecedented detail, according to a press release.
Reference:
"Ionized Gas in the XUV Disc of the NGC 1512/1510 System," á. R. López-Sánchez, T. Westmeier, C. Esteban, and B. S. Koribalski, Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society (MNRAS), 11 July 2015, Vol. 450, No. 4 [https://mnras.oxfordjournals.org/content/450/4/3381].
